Conventionally, there have been known axial gap motors, for example, which include a rotor rotatable about a rotational axis and a stator which is disposed so as to face the rotor from at least one side thereof with respect to the direction of the rotational axis and in which a loop of flux via the stator is formed for a field flux by a permanent magnet of the rotor (refer to Patent Document, for example).
For example, in an axial gap motor described in Patent Document 1, as is shown in FIG. 17, a rotor 100 includes a rotor frame 101 of a non-magnetic material, a plurality of fan-shaped permanent magnets 102 and a plurality of fan-shaped iron cores 103. The permanent magnets 102 are fitted in opening portions 101a in the rotor frame 101 so as to be fixed in place therein, and the iron cores 103 are fitted in opening portions 101b in the rotor frame 101 so as to be fixed in place therein. In addition, S poles and N poles are arranged alternately on magnetic pole surfaces of the permanent magnets 102. The axial gap motor attempts to realize a highly efficient generation of rotational torque.